Bhopal gas tragedy: Carbide site yet to be detoxified

DNA

Dec 03, 2012, 04:38 AM IST

bhopal news in English

Bhopal: The 28th anniversary of the world's worst industrial tragedy falls on December 3 but the toxic chemical waste at the Union Carbide plant premises here has not been disposed of. And the removal is unlikely soon.

"The Madhya Pradesh government's efforts to dispose of the waste so far have been insufficient. The state government is worried only about the waste in go downs. It is not thinking about the waste lying in the open which poisons drinking water in the affected areas," Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangthan convener Abdul Jabbar said.

There are about 350 metric tons of waste lying in the Union Carbide plant premises and all attempts claimed to have been made by the state government to dispose it have been in vain.

Initially, the Madhya Pradesh government was supposed to dispose of the waste at Ankleshwar in Gujarat and its state government had also agreed to it.

However, the Gujarat government refused to accept the waste after people in the state launched an agitation against it at a time when elections are around the corner. Besides it was also opposed by some voluntary organisations.

After the Gujarat government's refusal, the MP government planned to dispose of the waste at Pithampur and 40 metric tons of waste was even burnt there.

But later, it was claimed that the incinerator at Pithampur was not good enough for disposing off the waste, while BJP leader and former union minister Vikram Verma too led an agitation against the waste disposal.ttempts to get the waste disposed off at Nagpur and Germany too failed. Since the matter is now pending with the Supreme Court and the Madhya Pradesh government has not given any concrete proposal, it may be quite a while before the waste is finally disposed off.